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Bayou Teche recently announced plans to expand their brewery, and they have a few exciting changes on tap (see what I did there?). The expansion will add nearly 50% more room to the brewery, meaning a bigger taproom, more space for a lab, and additional room for their ever-growing collection of whiskey and wine barrels that are used to age beer in. But, according to Bayou Teche co-owner, Karlos Knott, the most exciting part of the expansion is that it will create room for a brand new brewhouse, the first of its kind here in the United States.

Bayou Teche is expecting delivery of a brand spanking new Simatec Multi-Brew, which is branded as a super efficient, multi-functional and modular brewhouse, with each vessel capable of performing all phases of the brew day process. So in the time it takes a standard brewhouse to produce three batches of beer, the Simatec Multi-Brew can brew 9 batches! The Simatec Multi-Brew system is modular in the sense that you can just plug in more of the vessels to increase your production based on your needs.

According to Karlos, Simatec has “installed nearly a hundred of these in Europe, and Bayou Teche Brewing will be the first in the US to take the plunge. I called quite a few breweries in Europe that have the Simatec, and from Scotland, France, Italy and Germany, I have gotten pretty rave reviews. It’s showing up here first quarter and we are pretty freaking excited!”

If you’re interested in reading more about the Simatec Multi-Brew system, Craft Brewing Business has an in depth look at it here.

Bayou Teche will undergo a rebranding of sorts with not only their labels, but with the recipes of several of their flagship beers. They are also introducing a brand new year IPA, to be called Swamp Thing. “We did not want to do the emulative thing and brew a West Coast IPA, or an East Coast IPA, or heck even an English IPA,” says Knott. “We opted to do an IPA that was designed for Louisiana, something we’d consider a Gulf Coast IPA. Swamp Thing is a hoppy, citrusy, unfiltered IPA made with German Pilsner malt and a blend of hops that includes Mosaic and Citra. It’s fermented with an ultra-clean ale yeast that allows these hop flavors to shine. The ABV is on the low side for an IPA – 6.3 %. We feel that’s perfect for the humid heat of South Louisiana. For an IPA, it’s pretty dang crisp and refreshing (almost lager-like), as well as very hoppy and citrusy.”

Bayou Teche Swamp Thing IPA

Swamp Thing IPA should start hitting the market in mid-December, with plans to deliver a limited number of kegs and six-packs to distributors throughout Louisiana on the same day that the beer is packaged, giving customers the opportunity to drink the beer as fresh as possible.

3 Responses to “Bayou Teche brewery expansion and new year round IPA”

“Congrats to Bayou Teche on your current expansion. We heard great things about the Simatec brewhouse as well, and chose to purchase their equipment ourselves, for our recent expansion. We actually took delivery of the Simatec brewhouse in May of this year, and plan to have the 15bbl system up and running soon. Our actual brewhouse was featured at the Craft Brewers Conference in Philly this year. Anxious to fire-up this system. Joe — Co-founder, Plymouth Brewing Company, Plymouth, WI.”

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[…] As I mentioned last month, a brand new IPA (Swamp Thing) will make its debut in the next several weeks. I also teased that Bayou Teche would do some rebranding to some of their flagships. Well, here are some of the details. […]

[…] As I mentioned last month, a brand new IPA (Swamp Thing) will make its debut in the next several weeks. I also teased that Bayou Teche would do some rebranding to some of their flagships. Well, here are some of the details. […]